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In addition to the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display and the new iMac, Apple has also refreshed its Mac Mini models. The US$599 (S$788) base model now comes with the 2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost speed up to 3.1GHz) with 3MB L3 cache, Intel HD 4000 graphics, and 4GB of RAM. This is a nice bump from the 2.3GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor and 2GB of RAM that the previous base model offered. Hard drive capacity remains at 500GB (but is configurable up to 1TB).

A second standard configuration that's priced at US$799 (S$1,088) is also available. This configuration comes with the 2.3GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor (Turbo Boost speed up to 3.3GHz) with 6MB L3 cache, Intel HD 4000 graphics, and 4GB of RAM. It's also equipped with a 1TB hard drive, but you can upgrade to either a 256GB solid-state drive or a 1TB Fusion Drive. A 2.6GHz quad-core Core i7 (Turbo Boost speed up to 3.6GHz) option is also available.

If you need a server component, there's a third configuration that runs OS X Server. This US$999 (S$1,388) configuration has mostly the same specs as the 2.3GHz quad-core Mac mini configuration, except the storage capacity (two 1TB hard drives configurable to one or two 256GB solid-state drives).

All the new Mac Mini models can be configured with up to 16GB of RAM.

Beyond the changes listed above, the new Mac Minis sport mostly the same features as their predecessors. Each of them has a Thunderbolt port, a FireWire 800 port, four USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI port, and an SDXC card slot. In addition to gigabit Ethernet, they also support 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0 wireless technology.

In the U.S., the new Mac Minis are available starting today. In Singapore, they will ship in five to seven business days.